What Makes You BeautifulKiba Inuzuka
by XxTwisted-Miss-MayhemxX
Summary: Kiba and Aiaka have been friends for as long as they can remember. When Kiba decides to help Aiaka with her sense training, things get a bit crazy. Will they finally admit their feelings to each other? And how will Kiba's fan girls take it all?
1. Beginnings

My breath came out in small clouds of fog, the cold night air never relinquishing its' hold of my heavy breathing. I flung another assortment of kunai at the old, ragged dummy that was predestined to be torn to shreds by the time I was done with my training.

The constant music of my movements lulled me into an automatic state, my instincts taking over. Swish, clunk, clunk, swish. This had become a nightly dance for me. Training my self; pushing myself to my limit. That's what I was determined to do, but I guess fate had something more in store for me.

A bush rustled behind me, about fifteen feet away. My senses heightened at the possible threat and without having to think, I twirled about a hundred and fifty degrees to my left, the shuriken between my knuckles being flung in the direction of the moving foliage.

A soft thump was heard, followed by a low groan. Kunai in hand, I walked towards the bush cautiously. I was met with familiar, now pain-filled, black eyes.

He looked up at me in slight annoyance and pulled the thin metal from his shoulder. I sighed and knelt down, taking it from him and putting it back in my pouch.

"That's what you get for spying on people, Kiba." He glared at me, swatting my hands away from his arm.

"I wasn't spying on you! I'm trying to teach Akamaru to conceal himself now that he's so big." I helped him up and watched as his usual cocky smile graced his fanged lips. "but if you want, we can go play hide and seek at my house…"

I rolled my eyes. "How we have stayed friends so many years with your continuous flirting is beyond me."

"You'd think you'd recognize my chakra after so many years, too, Ai. We've been friends for like what? Eleven years?"

I blushed heavily, much to his pleasure. "H-Hey! You know that I get lost in the fight when I get started. I don't really pay attention to anything, but who I'm fighting!"

His smile dropped, "Yeah. I know. You really need to work on that, too. It's going to get you killed one day. The last thing I want to do is lose you."

My heart skipped a beat, the same way it always did when I was around the animalistic male. I tried not to read too far into his words and turned my back to him to go and get my discarded weapons.

"I…I know that, but I don't know how to go about it. I mean, how would I go about it? It's not like I'm like you. I can't smell a two day trail or anything…"

He put his hand on my shoulder. "I could help if you want." I turned to him, my eyes searching his for any of the usual mischief that usually lurked there. Finding none, I nodded. I smiled at him.

"That would be great, but how?" He smirked and placed his fingers in his mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle. Akamaru came bounding up from behind me. I ducked, anticipating it. Kiba jumped into the air and landed on Akamaru's waiting back.

"We'll meet here tomorrow about noon. Wear a swimsuit under your clothes. Now, want a ride home?" He offered a hand to me, which I gladly took and he hoisted me up onto the hefty dog.

My arms immediately hugged his waist, and I unzipped the pockets of his jacket, my hands finding warmth in them. I sighed in content and leaned my cheek on his wide back. I didn't realize how tired I really was.

He dropped me off at the Hitsuka compound gates and I watched as he rode off to his house, which, to my happiness, was just down the road from my compound.

I went inside the compound and down the walkway towards my home. I veered to the right of the main house directly in the middle and made my way up the stairs of my home. The lights were still on so I checked my watch, finding out that it was only eleven o'clock.

I chuckled. Kiba sure had a way of interrupting my training tonight. I usually wouldn't be done until about one on days that I didn't have missions.

My mother was surprised to see me walk into the kitchen, barely even out of breath. "O-Oh! Aiaka! This is early for you! You didn't wear yourself out, did you?"

I shook my head, pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge. "No. I sort of, accidentally, may have hit Kiba in the shoulder with my shuriken while I was training…It was an accident of course! He was looking for Akamaru and I heard him moving so I thought it was someone bad!"

My mother sighed lightly, and then laughed. "It's not nice to kill your boyfriend, Dear." My face fumed and I glared heatedly at her.

"He…He's not my boyfriend, Mom! We're just friends! And I wasn't trying to kill him!" She laughed again, wiping a tear from her eye and waving me off.

"Sure, sure. Well, dinner is in the fridge. I'm going to say good night to your father and then I'm going to bed. Good night, Aiaka." I nodded absent mindedly, giving a small 'love you' and focused myself on getting the food unwrapped from the foil.

Thinking of my father, I faltered a bit in pulling the wrappings from my stir-fry. My father had gotten sick when I was about eight. With each day that went by, he got worse and worse. I knew that he wasn't going to make it much longer.

On my ninth birthday, my mother was on a mission that lasted all day, so my grandmother had stayed at the house to take care of my father while I was at school. I remember sitting in class, between Kiba and Naruto, when my grandmother came into the room. She walked to Iruka-sensei who

smiled kindly at her.

She whispered into his ear and that smile instantly vanished. They both looked at me, sadness swimming in their eyes. I knew then what they had spoken of. My father had passed.

I cried the whole way home. My mother found out when she got back from her mission. We slept in her bed that night, both crying ourselves to sleep.

I shook away my thoughts and finished up so I could go to bed. I needed my sleep. Knowing Kiba, I was in for it tomorrow.


	2. Hearing

I stood at our promised spot for about five minutes before I heard the familiar barking of a certain dog. I turned to see them bounding up to me and laughed as I watched Kiba's hair bounce along with it.

He grinned as he hopped down, "Mornin', Beautiful!" I giggled quietly and we hugged per usual.

"So, Kiba-SENSEI, what's first?" He smirked at the name and motioned me back into the woods, Akamaru trailing behind us as we stalked further into the brush.

I recognized the trail immediately. I grinned and ran, bursting out into a rocky opening, a waterfall roaring over a small lake. Naruto and I used to train here all of the time with Jiraiya-sensei before they left to train.

"So, what are we doing here, Kiba?" I looked back at him to see him stripping off his jacket and tossed it onto a rock. It soon neighbored his pants, headband, shoes, and his net shirt. My face started to heat up as my eye traveled over his muscular chest, so I turned away to look at the waterfall.

"Your hearing is pretty good, but not at what it should be. So, you're going to close your eyes and try to listen to my position. The more correct you are, the closer to the waterfall you're going to get. We'll keep doing it until you can hear me right at the waterfall."

I blinked at him, honestly surprised that he'd come up with all of that on his own. He noticed my surprise and blushed past his dark skin. "I…I've had to do it, myself. It's pretty tough, so be ready."

I shrugged and lifted my dress up over my head, my baby blue bikini top being exposed and were soon followed by my bottoms. I set my things neatly beside his and turned to him, only to catch him running his eyes over me. I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Kiba, you're acting like you've never seen me in a bikini." He blushed, realizing that he'd been caught.

"Am not! I mean, of course I have. It's not my fault that you have such a great body. Can you hold it against me?" He wriggled his eyebrows, hoping that I caught the pun.

I laughed, rolling my eyes and walked closer to him. I got really close to his face, causing him to start blushing furiously. I ran my hand up his arm and onto his chest. I then proceeded to push him into the lake.

He came up ,sputtering, and glared at me. I was laughing so hard, that I had started to cry. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you? Let's see how you like this!" He wrapped his fingers around my ankle and pulled me into the lake. I almost choked on the water.

I came up, glaring furiously. A splashing war was issued. We tired ourselves out goofing off, so, we decided to rest a bit before we got to the actual training.

We sat on the edge of the rocks with our legs dipped into the crystal-like waters. "So, how's it going with you and kimi?" I asked him. Kimi was this month's girlfriend. Kiba had become very popular after Sasuke left. It seemed that all of his fan girls, except Sakura, had switched their crush onto Kiba now that Sasuke was no longer around.

I didn't like it at all. We'd actually gotten stalked just going out for lunch. Not to mention the fan girls hated my guts for being so close to "their" Kiba.

"Ah, we broke up a few days ago. Before I went on my last mission, actually. Not that I mind. She was really starting to get on my nerves. She even tried nicknaming me Ki-Ki. KI-KI, for goodness sake! She took it pretty hard."

I snorted. "Ki-Ki? Really? Oh, wow! That's so adorable, Kiba! Ha. So, what did she do to get on your nerves? Last I heard, she was "the sweetest little thing". What? Did she turn all psycho and watched you while you sleep?"

He shivered, "Don't even put that image in my head, Ai! No, she didn't do ANYTHING like that! She just…said some things that she shouldn't have…"

I gave him a confused look, pressing him to go on. "Well, what did she say? She didn't insult your family, did she? I'll kill her if she did!"

He chuckled, running a hand through his wet locks, "No, she didn't, and if she did, you know she'd already be dead. But…she…uh…she told me that I…that I was spending too much time with you. She thinks that you like me and freaked out when she saw us hugging before I left on my mission. She even went as far as calling you names and I…I got pretty pissed. I don't think I made any sense to her after that. Though, she did catch the whole "I'm done with you" thing…"

I blinked, a small pink hue to my cheeks. I smiled, ignoring the reliving sigh that I wanted to let out so badly. I patted his shoulder. "Well, that explains all the glaring that I've been getting from her. Hey, it'll be okay! When one walks out, five more are willing to walk in. Though, in your case, I think it's more of five hundred."

He laughed loudly, my own laughter filling in after. "Alright, alright. Come on. It's time to start your training." I nodded at him, my smile never leaving my face.

I panted out as I collapsed on the ground. The sky was darkening now and I'd finally gotten my hearing acute enough to where I could stand under the waterfall and still hear Kiba jumping around. I'd actually hit him a couple of times with the rock that I had by accident.

He chuckled at me. "Tired? I'm not surprised. It took a lot outta me, too, when I first started. It'll get easier the more you do it. It didn't take you as long as I thought it would, actually."

I slipped my dress over my head, the water making it cling to my body. "Your faith in me is inspiring." My stomach suddenly growled and I blushed. He laughed as he slipped on his jacket.

"Come on. We'll run by our houses and get some dry clothes and I'll take you out for dinner."

I smirked at him, trying to hide the fact that I wanted to grin. "Kiba Inuzuka, are you asking me out on a date?" His face turned so red that I was starting to wonder if it was going to turn into his natural skin color.

"N-NO! I…I mean…unless you want it to be…" I giggled lightly, wringing my hair out and deciding to leave it down to curl a bit.

"Lead the way, Romeo." He grinned and Akamaru barked as he laid down for us to climb up. This time, I rode in front of Kiba, his arms around me to hold Akamaru's fur. It was getting cold outside, so him being close was good. I tried not to think about his face being right beside mine on the way there.


	3. Discovering Our Truth

When I woke up that morning, I felt more energized than I had in a long time. I didn't know why, but the thought of spending the entire day with Kiba had my heart speeding and I had a constant grin on my face. Even my mother had noticed the change in my attitude.

"You sure are cheery this morning. I haven't seen you this happy since your father was alive!" I shrugged her comment off as I spread butter across the toast that I held in my hands.

"I dunno. Maybe I just had a good dream." The doorbell rang, alerting us to a visitor. My heart sped up and a vivid blush slapped my cheeks when I thought about who was behind the door.

"I wonder who is here at this hour in the morning?" My mother mused, putting down the jam and walked to go let our guest in. Hearing my mother's voice again, I ran to the door. "Oh, so YOU'RE the reason she's all-"

"KIBA! Hi, come on. Let's go! Bye, Mom!" I pushed past her, thankfully keeping her from ending the sentence that would probably tell Kiba more than I was willing to admit to myself.

"Uhh…okay? Bye, Miss Mitsuka!" He stuttered out as I caught his arm and yanked him away from my house. "what was that about, Ai? Whom was your mom talking about?"

I shook my head and sighed. "So, what are we working on today?" He fell into step beside me when I noticed Akamaru's absence. "Wait, where's Akamaru? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He stayed home today to relax after our training yesterday…" I blinked, only remembering Akamaru playing in the water a little bit and snoozing in the sun. What was Kiba hiding?

"Anyways, today we're gonna work on taste." He stated, his hands in his pockets. I suddenly stopped, hearing something. He stopped, too, looking back at me quizzically before he heard it, too. He groaned out and we looked behind us, sensing the hoard of girls hiding behind the buildings.

"Will I ever get any alone time without them?" I smirked over at him as we turned back to walk to wherever he was leading me.

"And here I thought you liked the attention. Kiba, until, and if, Sasuke comes back, you probably won't get any." I felt my heart pang at the thought, but ignored it as we walked into Ichiraku ramen.

"That, or I get married." My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat. Married? I tried to imagine it, but I didn't like the thought of it. So, like I'd been doing recently, I ignored it.

"So…what are we doing?" I noticed that the old man sat two, steaming bowls in front of us, both looking equally delicious. I hadn't even noticed Kiba order in the midst of my own inner ranting.

"Were gonna make sure that you will be able to taste the spice in the ramen. With each bite, the amount will get smaller and smaller. We'll do this one over a few days since you can't eat too much."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you." I laughed out, taking the spice bottle from his hand and inspecting it. Why did he have to choose the one thing that I hated most? I was NOT a fan of spicy food, but then again, maybe that was why he was doing it. "So, what is this going to do again?"

"We'll, it'll make it easier for you to sense poison in the air. Hopefully, soon enough that you can get out of wherever you are before it infects you." I blinked, once again amazed at my best friend.

"Wow, I didn't know you were this creative, Kiba!" He blushed heavily and stuck his tongue out at me, pouring a little more spice on my ramen for his revenge, I'd guess.

"Hey! I can be creative!" He stopped at my look. "Okay, so Hana taught me! Shut up! I can still be creative!" I laughed at him, and, without thinking, took a mouthful of spiced ramen into my mouth. I regretted it immediately.

"Oh my GOD! Hot! Hot!" Kiba laughed at my misery and handed me a glass of water. I gulped it down, trying to tame the fire in my throat. I slammed the cup back down, immediately tending to my watering eyes. Kiba was crying, too, but his was from laughter.

"Kiba, you're such a JERK!" I took the spice bottle and dumped half of its contents in his ramen while he continued to laugh at me. Let's see how he likes that.

"S-Sorry! I can't help it! But, it does work! Hana had me doing it for a month before I finally got it. I think you'll get it sooner that I will, though. You're a lot better at that kind of stuff than I am." I blushed at the compliment and started to feel bad about the spice.

I noticed that he started to take a bite of his food. "Kiba, wait-" The bowl was suddenly snatched from him and we looked to see a girl with big, bushy pigtails glaring at me.

"Who do you think you are, poisoning my boyfriend? You Harlot! Why don't you just stay away from him? You annoy him!" This was Kimi. Kiba's newest ex.

"Poisoning? It was a joke! And no! I WON'T stay away from him!" I stood to my feet, getting nose to nose with her. I already didn't like her, but she just crossed the line by calling me names.

"He doesn't WANT you! He HATES you! He may not see that you're trying to seduce him, but I do! So, just leave him alone already! He loves ME! Not YOU!"

"Maybe you should look in a mirror! Because, if you haven't noticed, Sweetheart, he broke up with YOU! It was YOU trying to do all of those things. YOU are the one that annoys him. YOU are the one that he doesn't want. YOU are the one he hates!"

She glared harder at me if possible. "No matter how much you deny it, you know its true! I can see your true intent! You just want him to yourself!"

I started to say something, but Kiba pulled me back by my waist. "Go away, Kimi. I told you never to even speak about Ai again! You're the Harlot. Now, leave. Before I let her go so she can make a rice patty out of you."

Hearing the words come from her "loved one", made her tear up. With a final glare and few cursing words to me, she ran off. I growled, snatching myself from his grasp, suddenly not having an appetite for anything.

"How DARE she! Kiba, if you're going to be with someone again, please make sure that she's at least half sane, would you?"

He chuckled lightly as he paid for the food, knowing well that I would not be eating after that. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that I go out with the sanest person that I know." I sighed, feeling that now familiar in my chest again. Again-I ignored it.

"I'm not really feeling up to the training anymore…want to go a movie?" He grinned, ruffling my hair a bit.

"I'm the guy, remember? I'm supposed to be asking you. So, Ai, want to go see a movie with me?" His fox-like grin made me smile back, my heart fluttering at the motion. I couldn't ignore it much longer.

"Oh, well, since you asked so NICELY and all…" We both laughed and began to walk to the theatre. "So, what do you think we should see?"

"Hmm…I dunno. Maybe an action? Or a horror film?" He watched as much eyes lit up, a small smirk gracing his lips. "Yeah. I thought that'd get your attention."

We watched the movie and then decided to just go walk around the village. When it was about dusk, we decided to call it a night. Spending the day with Kiba in it self was tiring. We talked constantly, joking and laughing the whole time. I'd even forgotten about the whole incident at Ichiraku's.

We bid each other goodbye as we came to my door, Kiba insisting that he had to walk me home the whole way, since we HAD been on a date and all. I hugged his neck, feeling my heart race as his face nuzzled into my shoulder. I wasn't going to ignore it any longer. I liked my best friend. As in, a more-than-friends way; and it scared me beyond belief.


	4. The Fianl Sense

A couple of weeks had gone by and I'd mastered my hearing, taste, and touch. For the touch portion of the training, Kiba had taken a move that he'd learned from Kakashi-sensei and pretty much buried me from the neck up many, many times before I'd finally been able to dodge him completely.

After the night that I'd figured out my feelings for Kiba, I'd been feeling restless. It took ever longer for me to learn touch because of it, and now it was taking longer for the sight portion as well, considering all I could focus on was Kiba and wasn't paying attention to Akamaru-turned-Kiba-twin. I know that they looked alike, but I still watched the real one.

"Ai! Focus!" He yelled as he and Akamaru finished their spinning. I sighed, looking away from his slightly sweaty form. Before, I would've found this gross, but since my new discovery, I haven't exactly been myself. "This is the whole reason that we're doing this! So, you'll learn to protect yourself from more than one person at a time. Ai, you've got to focus!"

"I…I know! I'm trying, Kiba! I really am! It's just…" He sighed and walked over.

"Come on, let's take a break." He pulled me over to a tree and we sat down, both sighing in relief. Well, his was in relief. Mine was more of a hopeless/irritated one.

"So, what's up with you? You're usually good at focusing. You've been spaced the last two sessions." I blushed heavily and looked at Akamaru as he laid his head on my lap and I started to pet him.

"Nothing…just tired, I guess." He sighed and leaned his head back on the tree behind us.

"I hate it when you lie to me, Ai. It makes me feel like you don't trust me." I winced and shook my head wildly.

"No! No, I do trust you, Kiba! It's just…I really need to figure some things out on my own first before I worry you with it…" I felt a weight on my shoulder and looked to see him leaning his head there.

"Ai, what you're doing now is worrying me…" I frowned, feeling hopeless. What was I going to do if I told him and he didn't care that way for me? I'd grown so accustomed to being with him over the years. I don't know what I'd do without him.

"I'll…I'll tell you soon, okay? Let's just get back to training." I got up after gently nudging him off of my shoulder. He sighed and followed suit. We continued our training until about two in the morning when I'd finally gotten it.

I panted, lying in the grass beside an equally tired Kiba. "I…I did it…I've got them all down…"

"Not…not yet, you haven't. We've still got…smell." I sighed, curling over and laying my face on his arm.

"What silly, yet somehow awesome training are we gonna be doing this time?" I felt him chuckle, before I felt lips on my forehead. I breathed out a content sigh. If I could be like this with him forever, I'd be fine. He doesn't have to love me romantically, as long as he's here with me.

"You'll see, Ai. We'll meet tomorrow at noon at the academy, okay? Now, come on. Let's get you home." I was contently falling asleep so he picked me up and sat me on Akamaru before climbing up behind me and letting me lean on his chest holding me to keep me from falling. We began to head to my house.

I clutched his shirt, nuzzling into his chest and smiled happily. I fell asleep to Kiba's quickening heartbeat.

I woke the next morning in my bed, having no recollection of getting in it. Slowly, it all came back and I smiled, remembering that Kiba had told me not to worry about wearing my training clothes, just to wear something comfortable.

So, being the girl I am, I put on a red, pleated skirt and a baby blue, thin-strapped tank top. I wore a long sleeved, off the shoulder net shirt under that, as well. I left my shoulder length hair down. I slid on my zoro shoes, deciding that they were the most comfortable shoes that I owned. I looked over myself in the mirror one last time before I was pleased with myself.

I walked down the stairs, only to get splashed with confetti. I blinked, blowing a piece of the shiny paper off of my nose. "Umm…Mom? What's this all about? Did-Did you make HONEY BUICUITS?" She giggled childishly, loving that I noticed that she had made my favorite breakfast.

"Of course I did! It is such a special day after all! Oh, I can't believe you're already sixteen! It's so exciting! Your father would be so proud of you! Just like I am!"

"Wait…oh my God! I forgot that today was my birthday! How could I do that?"

I gasped. How could I forget my own birthday? Then again, I was a little preoccupied with other things.

"Well, you have been spending more time than usual with Kiba. I'm just surprised that you haven't told him how you feel yet!" I blushed heavily. Typical Mom, knowing how I feel before I even really know it.

"Oh! Maybe you should do it today! As a gift to yourself!" I frowned at the thought, fear welling up in my heart.

"Mom…I can't do that. Kiba doesn't like me like that. We're…just friends, Mom." She smirked, causing me to get suspicious. My mother NEVER smirks. She just smiles like an idiot.

She dropped it immediately, knowing that I catch on to things quickly, and put up her usual grin. "Well, anyways. Take a few and go meet up with Kiba. It's almost noon. He told me to remind you to wear something comfortable, but what you're wearing is absolutely adorable."

With that, she handed me a lunch box with enough food for Kiba and I both and pushed me out of the door, making sure to lock it so I wouldn't chicken out.

I sighed and smiled at the thought of her giggling girlishly. She always was the more romantic of us both. I started my trek to the Academy and began to wonder why Kiba would pick such a place for us to meet. What would a school have to do with me learning how to use my nose better? Maybe something about chalk? I shrugged it off and saw that Kiba wasn't here yet, so I took a seat on the swing hanging on the tree across from the school.

I smiled, feeling nostalgic. This is where I'd met all of my friends; where I'd met Kiba. I remember when Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, and I used to get in trouble as children. We used to drive Iruka-sensei crazy. It's hard to believe that it's been that many years since I'd been a friend to Kiba.

I suddenly felt hands gently placed on my back and the person started to push me slowly. I smiled, loving the feeling of the wind caressing my skin. He took the ropes of the swings and pulled me back against his chest. I looked up at Kiba and smiled.

He smiled back, almost surprising me, as it wasn't his usually cocky grin. He helped me up after picking up the lunch box. He was wearing a white button up, long sleeved shirt that was rolled up to the elbows and some black jeans. "Your mom made us lunch, I'm guessing?"

I nodded, blushing as he took my hand in his and led me into the building. Why it was unlocked on a weekend, I'd never know.

He pulled me into a door and I immediately recognized it. I grinned happily. "It's our old classroom! But why did you bring my here, Kiba? How is this gonna help with my smell?" He started to fidget nervously.

"You'll…see. Umm…stand there okay? And close your eyes. I'll…show you how I'm going to help you with your smelling…" I did as told and heard a lot of shuffling around as he went into the room, making sure to close the door so I wouldn't peek.

I must have been standing there for half an hour, my legs growing increasingly tired, before I heard the door open and felt his hands guiding me into the room. "Can I open my eyes yet, Kiba? I might go blind if I don't." I joked, feeling him let me go and shuffle somewhere.

"Okay…open your eyes." I opened them, still wondering why he was being so secretive. My jaw dropped at the chalk line picture that was now drawn elegantly on the board. I was a picture of me, along with Kiba, and a couple of children. On all of our faces were the traditional Inuzuka marks. I gaped, stepping closer.

That's when I noticed it. The only shining part of the board was my left ring finger. I ran my finger over it and a small, dainty, silver ring dropped onto the eraser under it. My hands shook slightly as I reached for it, but another hand beat me there.

When I looked at him, he was on the ground on one knee. "Oh my God…Kiba…? What are you?"

"You told me to be with someone more sane next time. You're the sanest person that I know, Ai. I should've seen the way I felt about you before, back when all of my ex's fought with me about you. I didn't realize it until recently, and I'm sorry that I didn't. But, I want to make up for it now. Inuzukas' have some of the best noses in the ninja world. And there is no one on this earth that I would want to be an Inuzuka more than you, Ai. I…I love you. Please, Ai? Please marry me…?"

I think my heart stopped. I stared between him and the ring I think a dozen times before my knees gave out and I found myself staring up at him from my shaken perch on the ground. "Kiba…you…love me?" I felt tears fill my eyes and, with trembling hands, I took the ring from him. I looked into his eyes, hoping that he saw the answer in them as I wept.

He grinned softly and hugged me to him. I thought I even felt him crying, too, but I was crying too hard myself. He pulled back and slid the ring onto my finger, kissing the tip of all of my fingers before knotting our fingers together.

"Ai, I'll be there to protect you for as long as I'm breathing." I laughed out, so happy to know that I wasn't losing him in any sense.

"Well, you need to stop breathing for a few minutes and kiss me, you idiot!" He grinned and dipped down to capture my lips in his. I truly felt beautiful; a beautiful Inuzuka.

SOME YEARS LATER

I stood on the back porch of my home, watching my son play with his new puppy, Hiroshi. Akamaru sat beside me, watching his son play with mine, his mate lying right beside him. I smiled as Hiroshi urinated right on Kimaru's face.

Arms wrapped themselves around my ever growing belly. "Like father, like son, huh?" I giggled, leaning back on my husband, our matching face tattoos contrasting against our olive skin.

"Definitely. Oh, and Honey?" He nuzzled into the side of my neck, managing a small grunt to let me know that he was listening. I patted his hand and grinned, turning my head to whisper into his ear. "You might want to check your shoes next time you come into the house."

I walked to go play with Kimaru and Hiroshi, while Kiba blinked, confused, and started to inspect his shoes. "UGH! Akamaru! I told you to stick to the woods!" I laughed as my husband and dog began to wrestle, Akamaru defending himself against the accusation. I love my life.


End file.
